Nestled at the top of the Bonavista Peninsula is the tiny community of Elliston – the root cellar capital of the world. People flock here from all over the world for its many tourist attractions, such as the breathtaking coastline – complete with roaring shoreline and fascinating rock formations.

I woke up early, determined to get a fresh start on the day and take in as much of the beautiful coastline as possible. It was a gorgeous morning, and I was quite content to sit on a cozy rock and watch the sun scatter its rays across the water. And that’s just what I did – until it was time for the main event: the food hike; the reason people flock from all over the world to the Roots, Rants and Roars festival.

Over the past few years, a culinary revolution has swept over Newfoundland and Labrador and The Roots, Rants and Roars festival in Elliston is a perfect example. It’s a regional celebration of the natural gifts of the province: food, culture, land and sea. The Friday night event, “King of Cod”, kicked off the weekend of culinary delights, featuring cod as the hero, or as Todd Perrin – one of the chief organizers of the event – would say, Newfoundland’s “national dish”.

It was a clear, cold early May day on a familiarization trip to tourism sites on the southern Burin Peninsula, with John and myself the only men among the 30 or so aboard the bus. We were trying to find shelter from the wind, but it found us wherever we strayed. It was John’s first visit, but I’d visited cousins here in the 1960s, had toured the area in the 1990s to update the Newfoundland and Labrador travel guide, and had been here for tournaments when my kids played soccer. I have roots here going back at least to a fellow named Richard Kirby who held letters of marque from the British admiralty during the American Revolution that granted him the right to take French and American ships, at gunpoint if necessary. It’s the kind of assignment that probably required some previous experience.

This is a big year for Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s “Tempting Providence” as it celebrates 10 years of performances around the world. “Tempting Providence” tells the story of Myra Bennett, a dedicated nurse who practiced on the Northern Peninsula. I recently got a chance to speak to Gaylene Buckle, Theatre Newfoundland Labrador’s general manager. “When we developed this play we purposively created it so that it could be performed in a variety of “stages” around the province, from church basements to school gyms.

Newfoundland and Labrador has an enduring Irish culture, which is why we go all out celebrating St. Patrick's day, but some of our Irish history is really quite mysterious, stretching back thousands of years...

It's not often that mere mortals can afford to stay in the same luxurious lodgings where royalty once slept. And when those accommodations also boast intriguing links to the ocean liner Titanic, the chances seem remote indeed.

Cross country skiing is alive and well in Canada's eastern most province. Cross Country Newfoundland and Labrador (CCNL) is the umbrella group for cross country ski clubs and there are dozens of kilometres of groomed tracks waiting for any visitor.

We’ve all said things like “that meal just changed my life.” And if you haven’t, well… you might want to take a serious look at what you’re eating. I’ve eaten lots of meals that have changed my life. I probably overuse that phrase, but that’s how much I love food. There’ve been a few recipes (especially over the course of this past year) that I’ve made again and again for friends and family that I love and yeah, I think they’ve changed my life. They wake me up a little, they make me better. So… yeah. But the closest I’ve come to food tears was a couple of months ago at the Roots, Rants and Roars Festival in Elliston.

There are so many things to enjoy when I go back home to Newfoundland. From spending time with family and friends to hiking along the rugged coast, and taking in live music in St. John's. One of the things I look most forward to is getting out in a boat to catch a few cod.

As our trip to Newfoundland stretched out before us, I knew I would blog about it and I knew instantly that the theme would be gratitude to the people of Newfoundland. So it’s serendipitous that in the last few days I started reading so many words of thanks to the people of Newfoundland from the stranded passengers of 9/11 who were taken into their homes and made to feel like family.